L'helaskyra
A Sky Elf, she's known simply as "Skyra" to humans because they can't pronounce her full name properly. Daughter of L'helarivvon and L'helamarahksa, the consort King and the Queen of their tribe, Skyra is a princess among her people, learning the ways of leadership and elegance, but also the practical arts of survival, taking part in group hunts and such to show her people that she is willing to live and die with them. Different tribes of Sky Elves have different features and appearances, and Skyra's people are the Birds of Paradise of the elf world: no two pairs of wings are alike, unless twins are born, and so wings also serve as a form of identification when in flight. Many have very colorful wings, and many have dull wings. Some possess odd colors and patterns on their skin, some with feathers in odd places like the wrists or hair, others with crests, others with decorative plumage on their wings that seem to serve no practical purpose except to please the eye -- an advantage of being a high-born child of a Dragon. All are undoubtedly beautiful in their own way, if somewhat strange looking at times. Many share qualities with birds themselves, having singing voices capable of charming snakes, or, at the most dramatic, bird's legs and wings for arms. These are the mutants of the Sky Elves, but they are never viewed as such by their own people. Odd, unorthodox, yes, but never negatively. It is tradition that the Queen takes precedence over the King, but both have been tending to rule equally in the last few centuries. If ever there is a disagreement, though, the Queen will be taken firstly as the one who was right the whole time: Skyra can look forward to this responsibility when the time comes for her mother and father to fly with the spirit of the Air Dragon. Skyra is the jet fighter of her tribe. With her long, narrow wings and small build, much like a falcon's, she is endowed with tremendous speed and agility and has been known to out-fly many of the flying machines of the humans. She can dive at incredible speeds, and pull up from a dive on a dime, making pursuit of her a difficult and dangerous endeavor. With her bow and deadly, heavy arrows, sheer combat is often fatal for her human enemies. And human enemies, she does have: her tribe has not waged war with the Empress just yet, but relationships between humans and Sky Elves are tense at best, and run-ins often result in bloody battles. Skyra does not go out of her way to pick fights, but if she is engaged she will do her best to make short work of the situation. On a personal level, she carries herself with great dignity and grace, and though she is not snobbish, she's willful and strong, and a bit of a loose-cannon in her own right -- but unlike most loose-cannons, she is responsible and knows when she's not up to a challenge. She possesses a sophisticated wit and a sometimes-sharp tongue, but always used in such a way that it normally doesn't get her into trouble. Though her fellow tribespeople are often flashy and extremely colorful, Skyra is not quite so much -- her skin is very fair, and her hair is colored much like a parrot: bold blue with a splash of bright yellow here and there, often done up in a complex pattern of feathers and crystalline beads. Her eyes are likewise blue, and on the outside a brilliant yellow, ever-alert. Her eyelids appear dusted with gold powder. Her wings are mostly a dark yellow, smattered with red and orange in a pattern on the backs, and pure white on the undersides. Skyra often wears the scant armor of her royal people, fashioned after a magnificent bird of prey and capable of dealing its own damage when used right.